ignition timing

I tried adjusting the ignition timing on my d15, rebuilt, today to see if that could help it run better. For some reason I could not advance the dizzy enough. This was at operating temp and a 700ish idle. does this mean that I need to adjust the cam gear? I was within about one inch of the ignition marks on the pulley but couldnt adjust the dizzy any more to get them in line.

at the UP mark and on the TDC mark on the crankshaft was how it was set when I did it the first time, but the distributor would not adjust quite far enough. I didnt know if this was a result of the head being shaved, and possibly changing the timing by a little or what. Ill reset it again today and see if there is any difference. The engine also seemed to have trouble staying at idle speed once it went down to 700 or so, it would jump back up to stay running. She also has a sputtering exhaust.

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is your service connector jumped? I tried adjusting mine without it, and it just kept reseting itself.

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Yea, you have to jump the service connector before adjusting timing because the ECU is constantly advancing/retarding the timiing according to several factor like throttle position, intake air temperature, engine temperature, etc... When you jump the connector, it turns iginition advance off thus letting you properly adjust the timing.

ok, this may sound stupid, but i lined up the TDC with the marks on the timing cover. im guessing where i went wrong is that the TDC mark is supposed to be straight up and the cam cover has nothing to do with setting the timing belt.